Special Issue on Space Sustainability, Safety, and Security

Air and Space Law, vol. 48, pp. 1–4

Abstract

Sixty-five years after the first human-made objects entered outer space, the uses of space are myriad and continue to grow.Space activities begin in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), progress to the Earth's Geostationary Arc at 35,786 km above the equator (an orbit especially useful for telecommunications), and extend further into deep space with missions to the Moon, other planets, and to the very limits of our solar system.Space activities range from Earth-focused applications such as remote sensing, telecommunications, and positioning, navigation and timing, to space-and planetary sciences, human spaceflight, and the access to, exploration, and eventual commercial development of orbits, asteroids, and planets.Those active in space are equally diverse and include civil, military, commercial, and scientific parties.Today, there are thousands of both active and non-functioning space objects and millions of pieces of anthropogenic (human-created) space debris that pose a threat to the continued use of outer space.Such threats concern mainly the safety and sustainability of space activities, but they increasingly also create security issues in an increasingly congested and rivalrous domain.This special issue of Air & Space Law addresses various aspects of space sustainability, safety, and security, with a major focus on sustainability.A complex and nuanced issue, space sustainability affects the entire global space industry, and its salience will continue to grow.According to the United Nations, the 'longterm sustainability of outer space activities' refers to: the ability to maintain the conduct of space activities indefinitely into the future in a manner that realizes the objectives of equitable access to the benefits of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, in order to meet the needs of the present generations while preserving the outer space environment for future generations.1

Authors 2

1. Christopher Daniel Johnson corresponding

   Georgetown University · Secure World Foundation

   Affiliation as printed

   Space Law Advisor at the Secure World Foundation , and Professor of Law (Adjunct) at Georgetown University Law Center

   Secure World Foundation, and Professor of Law (Adjunct) at Georgetown University Law Center

2. Tanja L. Masson-Zwaan Aachen Asst. Professor and Deputy Director International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL)

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Asst. Professor and Deputy Director , International Institute of Air and Space Law , Leiden University , The Netherlands

   Asst. Professor and Deputy Director, International Institute of Air and Space Law, Leiden University, The Netherlands